


A Darker Path

by C_M_H_Snoozie



Category: Guardians of Childhood - Fandom, RotG, rise of the guardians
Genre: Alternate Story, Gen, Guardians of Childhood - Freeform, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-24 00:18:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12000951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_M_H_Snoozie/pseuds/C_M_H_Snoozie
Summary: After losing Easter and the other Guardians lose faith in him, Jack tries to deal with everything that has happened but struggles to come to terms with it. He loses hope himself until he gets an unexpected visitor that seems to be able to claw it all back.





	1. A Change In Heart

Somehow there was comfort in pacing, keeping everything moving around him just helped to vent his rage. It was all his fault, first it was the teeth, then it was Sandy, oh Sandy. Jack rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes and raked his fingers into his hair, trying in vain to pull out handfuls as he gave a muffled scream into his forearms. That still hurt the most, if he hadn’t have set off that alarm in Jamie’s room, the other guardians would still have been awake and they could have helped Sandy sooner, they could have reached him in time before the arrow hit. They could have captured Pitch and all of this would be over already. Jack shook his head and pulled harder against his hair, cursing himself, his thoughts, everything!

His hands dropped suddenly and hit at his belly, his knuckles wrapping against something solid, he winced and cursed at the sting of the impact. A frown creased his forehead and his hands slipped into his hoodie pocket as he felt the capsule for his baby teeth. No. This was the reason they lost Easter, this was why he wasn’t there to help, why they were losing believers by the minute. He pulled the capsule out and looked over it, its ruby case glistening eerily. His hand tightened around it and slowly frost patters started spreading over the cold case while his hand shook and his eyes stung with the prick of tears. He couldn’t hold it back any longer and all the twisted anger at himself and everything that had happened came bulging to the surface like an explosion of fire. Jack pulled his arm back and threw the capsule full force into the ocean, watching it spin until it crashed into the waves and was gone. 

It was only in that moment, that cool down from absolute rage that Jack had that terrible sinking feeling, that was his past, his history it might have been the clue to his centre and now it was sinking to the depth of the ocean, never to be seen again! He jumped from the iceberg, guiding the chilled wind to help him to that very spot he saw the capsule land. There was no sign of it, the ripples from its impact were already swallowed by the currents. He made to dive after it, to get it back and try to fix it, fix himself, anything that would be better than alone, without memories and in his own hatred and sorrow. He hit the surface of the water and felt the ice crystals trying to form around him, a cold finger that stretched down towards the ocean floor, far, far below. Naturalists might have called it a brinicle, but to Jack it was his rage and his last hope. He couldn’t follow it though, the ice tried to freeze to his hoodie as it always did but the air trapped within it made it harder and harder to swim down. He tried hard to spot just a glimmer of red, of anything but all Jack could see were more and more brinicles forming and stretching down towards the sea bed. It was useless.

Hours passed of desperately scrambling to find it, a hint of it and the more he searched the more fearful he became, that he would never find out about his past, never work out his centre. Jack eventually had to surrender when the sun set and his light was lost, apparently not even the Man in the Moon wanted to see him that night. Jack was plunged into total darkness and his search ended. He swam back to the surface and let the wind carry him back to the iceberg, looking for a wall to curl up against and cry out what was left of his energy. He landed on the ice and practically dragged his feet to an icy wall before throwing himself against it and curling into a ball, his hand tugging at his hair as he began to weep, how terrible things had gone, it would have been better if he had never been chosen in the first place. Then that was it though, wasn’t it? It wasn’t him that had started all of this. 

Jack peered out from his arm, looking to the stars that glittered far above, but the moon was still nowhere in sight. He knew he would be able to hear him though, and the words that hissed from his mouth held a venom to them. “This is all your fault. It was you that chose me then left me.” His hand tightened in his hair, the tug against his scalp stinging him. “None of this would have happened. It’s your fault.” 

“You can whisper at him all you want, Frost.” Came a cool voice near his feet, Jack uncurled quickly and leapt to his feet, staff at the ready. “He won’t change anything for you.” Said Pitch Black himself, leaning against the wall Jack had curled against and looking to him calmly, not even acknowledging his staff. “Believe me, others have tried.” He huffed and glanced over to the horizon with a shake of his head, “It’s the children he cares about, not his staff.” 

Jack snarled at him and thrust his staff towards him, aiming to send an icy blast at Pitch. The Nightmare King just shifted into the black shadow and vanished, but his voice remained, surrounding Jack and ringing in his ears. “I’m not here to fight you.” Declared that terrifying voice, Jack sent another icy blast, this time in a circle around him but he didn’t seem to have made any impact. Nothing could have quite prepared him for the words that followed. “I’m here to help you.” Jack’s staff lowered in that moment, just drooped while he took in those words. “I didn’t get the chance before, the Guardians would never have let us speak one on one like this, by the time you arrived in my home, I couldn’t tell which side you were on.” Explained the voice, though now it had a source, Pitch once again emerged from the shadows and into the starlight, his hands raised as something of a surrender, but Jack knew he would be a fool to think it was anything of the sort. 

“Why would you want to help me?” Jack hissed and raised his staff again, but sent no ice at the Nightmare King, willing to hear him out, after all there was nothing left for him to lose. “We’re not on the same side.” He hissed at him, yet did nothing to stop him when Pitch took an unusually large step towards him. 

“Because you and I want the same thing.” Offered Pitch, brow raised and hands still shown in relative surrender. “To be believed in? That’s why you joined with the other four, right? To gain believers?” Jack shook his head, not entirely, he had actually joined them when he found out Tooth had his memories in a box but he didn’t correct him. “You thought if you could join them and keep doing what you have always been doing, you would be believed in?” Pitch shook his own head and gently brought his hand forward just enough to touch the end of Jack’s staff and lower it with gentle fingers. “They held you back from your true potential, what you were doing before, didn’t work. But I can get you what you want. I can get you believers, you and I together. Cold and dark.” Those grey fingers moved again to come to rest on Jack’s shoulder this time, the winter sprite not having the strength or mind to think to step away. “Let me help you. Work with me and together, we can both get what we want.” 

Jack’s eyes fell to the floor, looking at the moving shadows around Pitch’s feet that curled in the snow. He swallowed. Could it be true? Could he have simply been doing it wrong this whole time? He had tried so hard to be good, to bring joy to children in his snow and bring comfort in the patterns of his frost. Maybe he wasn’t meant to bring joy, perhaps he and Pitch were alike and meant to be allied, after all he was right, cold and dark did go together so very well. His eyes ventured back up Pitch’s shadowy form back to his eyes. He could see that he was waiting and for all the terror he had inflicted, Jack could see in his eyes an infinite patience, maybe he had been wrong about him too. There was more to him than what the others had told him and with that in mind, with that need to get away from rock bottom and the offer of a patient hand, Jack’s head gave the smallest of nods. Then he watched as a grin spread across Pitch’s features, revealing slightly pointed teeth and what looked like a glimmer of hope in his eyes. 

Pitch’s hand reached over Jack’s shoulders and turned him ever so slightly so they were standing the same way. “I won’t let you down, Jack.” He promised just before the shadows snapped up around them and pulled them both away from the iceberg and the glittering stars into the Pitch’s dark lair. Jack had felt a kind of excitement at arriving at Pitch’s lair, but the promise of redemption faded away far quicker than he could have ever imagined. The moment his feet hit the floor again, he could hear the tweets and flapping of all the caged fairies. The chatter came as a joy at first to see him, but he could hear each and every gasp and quiet cry of pain when they saw that he was stood beside Pitch, willingly.

“Pipe down or I’ll turn you into the world’s largest feather duster!” Yelled Pitch, a pointed finger directed at no faire in particular and yet they all fell silent, only a few muffled weeps could be heard in the cavern that was the hall of Pitch’s lair. “I have no idea how she could have coped with so much noise all of the time.” Muttered Pitch under his breath as he moved to push Jack gently towards an arch way. “I’m so glad you agreed to join me Jack, working together we can both get what we want, I’ll take care of you so long as you return the favour. Like a family, right? This is as much your home as it is mine.” He offered and gestured around at the shadowy walls, ignoring a nightmare as it trotted passed, nostrils flaring at Jack and giving it pause to observe him. “Keep moving.” He instructed but it wasn’t at all clear if Pitch meant Jack or the nightmare, yet they both continued on their way regardless. 

“I don’t-“ Jack began and frowned as he looked around at the grand hall way, there were no paintings or any real decorations to be seen and yet the hall seemed to scream elegance and grace even when wrapped in shadow. “I don’t think I have ever had a home before.” The words were almost painful to say but yes, he could get used to that word, after three hundred years, just the thought of it brought a smile to his face, finally. Things were already starting to feel better with Pitch and Jack let the guilt of failing to rescue all those faeries slip away from his mind and he let Pitch lead him around this new shadowy home. 

“Well, consider it improvement number one, then.” Hummed Pitch while he guided Jack in towards another room where there were black couches, arm chairs and a wealth of books stacked neatly on shelves that lined each and every wall. “We’ll consider number two gaining you believers.” He gave Jack a grin and gestured around the room. “This is the library.” Jack looked up to see the walls of books, smiling to himself a little more at a time as he took it all in. Something caught his eye though, a shadow shifting over some of the books and Jack squinted, gripping his staff a little tighter until he saw it was a small and ghostly looking creature that just slinked away and under a door on the other side of the room. Jack blinked after it and turned to Pitch after a moment. “Don’t worry about that, that’s a fearling.” Explained Pitch with a casual shrug as if it was nothing. Jack didn’t quite know what that meant but since Pitch seemed relaxed about it, he thought it something similar to North and his elves perhaps. 

“You have been very kind to me so far.” Jack began as he moved to one of the couches, directed by Pitch who perched himself in one of the arm chairs, blending into it so well that only his steepled hands and grey face were visible. “But you haven’t explained to me what it is, exactly, that you want me to do?” Asked Jack gently but it seemed like a fair question to him, after all this was a lot of kindness from someone who was supposedly evil. 

Pitch’s grin emerged again, his teeth looking even more pointed in the dark. “I was wondering when it was you were going to ask me that, straight to business it seems, I thought I would have to wait until the end of the tour.” That almost felt like a tease, “Fear is easy to spread through my dear friends.” A long finger pointed to the hall way where a nightmare stood, peering in at them, nostrils still flaring and just watching Jack, which seemed to please Pitch all the more. “However, when they wake up- that fear can melt away into nothing again. Which is where you come in. You see, I need that fear to last passed sleep. I want them to wake up and feel the cold of winter at their backs.” A toothy grin again lit up in the shadows. “I want them to feel Jack Frost nipping at their nose.” 

That actually got a little huff of a laugh from Jack, after hearing that phrase so often and for so long it would be glorious to give it some meaning. To make it not ‘just an expression’. “So how big are we talking here?” 

Pitch’s head tilted a little to the side, “As big as you can go.” His cool voice holding something of a question to it there too, just a single note at the end which set Jack on edge, was he missing something? Was Pitch asking for a demonstration? Surely not. Maybe he had some doubt about how capable he actually was in helping him gain believers and Jack seriously considered it, how big could he go, nay would he go to gain believers for himself and for Pitch? 

“I’ll have to give it a try, let loose and see what I can do.” Jack shrugged with a little smile. He had failed to impress the guardians, but maybe he could impress Pitch, he didn’t seem to want him to hold back either. He could let out his true potential, give a snow day like no other and maybe get his own holiday. 

“Then what are you waiting for?” Pitch asked, though again there was a note in that question that didn’t quite sit right, as if it was less a question and more of an accusation. Pitch wanted results and he wanted them as soon as possible, regardless of how tired Jack actually was apparently. Pitch sighed after a moment and rubbed a hand over his left eye, flicking something away a moment later. “Go with the nightmares as they do their work tonight, unleash your biggest blizzard after the nightmares have done their work. Wake them up with a storm and freeze them inside if you have to.” Pitch nodded towards the door they had come through and Jack, hesitantly turned to see three nightmares passing the one that just stood staring at him from the door. Each seemingly stalking him with flared nostrils and tossing heads. “They’re ready to go.” Pitch warned and as Jack looked back to him he saw his eyebrow hike and knew that he meant for him to leave and get to work at that very moment. 

He had tried to be clear with the guardians that he was not ‘hard work and deadlines’ and they didn’t seem to understand that, nor did Pitch apparently but then he supposed he had yet to prove himself and earn the right to kick back and relax. Even though he felt like he had just sat down, Jack forced himself back up to his feet, staff in hand and with a hint of nervousness, nodded to Pitch and then the nightmares. They charged towards him, causing him to cover himself with his arms before they darted through the smallest glimmer of starlight in the far ceiling, he didn’t look twice to Pitch, didn’t pay attention to the fourth mare that whinnied after him as he kicked off the floor and up into the air after the nightmares.


	2. Team Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pitch starts to crack the whip hard, nightmares are going out every night and he expects Jack to do the same, to cause discomfort and chaos on a scale that Jack is still only learning about and is yet not ready to do. Pitch in turn demonstrates that there can be no room for disobedience.

Following the nightmares on their patrol, trying hard to keep up with the impossibly agile sand figures as they hurtled across land and sea with ease, slipping into the shadows of the clouds and vanishing from sight every now and again. Jack kept on their tails with the wind, steering wildly as he did so, dragging the colder air with him as they neared a small village on a coast in a country the frost sprite hadn’t even thought to check. The waves crashing against the rocks of the cliffs below, crashing harder against them as Jack arrived with that wind, unsettling boats in the bay and flooding the beach with a surge of cold water. 

The nightmares spread out at lightning speed through the village, not bothering to stick to the shadows any longer. Of course, there was no competition any more, no more of the Sandman’s dreamsand to battle them off. They galloped through the houses, appearing in windows, vanishing into the shadow filled corners of the rooms and appearing in another house entirely, sweeping black sand across the sleeping children. Jack didn’t need to be a guardian of sleep to see that they were being disturbed by the nightmares. Children woke in cries and gasps, sitting bolt up right in their beds, cowering under their blankets or wiping away at tears. He felt his heart sink, sure he had been up for creating the biggest and best snow day ever, but he didn’t want children crying. 

Landing on a single roof top while the nightmare slipped inside the open window, Jack looked around at the children stirred from their sleep, too scared to tempt it again, there were no more good dreams to be had, there were no more peaceful sleeps. Perhaps he could help though, maybe he could put a smile on their tired faces again? He pulled the cold air in and watched as it clashed with the clouds above, sure enough it started to snow. Delicate and gentle, dozens of flakes falling and settling on the ground and on windowsills, the salty sea air melting away most at first, but Jack just called down more and more snow, and soon there was too much to melt as the air grew colder.   
He laughed to himself when he saw a young boy pressing himself against the window, staring out at the snow around him in some awe and Jack knew he was wishing for the snow to stick, that there might be some reprieve from the sleepless nights, that he could find some comfort or strength in the promise of winter’s wonders. 

A snort interrupted him and Jack leaped in fright at the sight of Pitch beside him. “Come on now, Frost, is this really your full potential? Is there only a nip and no bite?” It was said with a cool calm but the sideways look the Nightmare king gave just screamed with threat. Pitch wanted more. Jack had not impressed him yet and he couldn’t let that happen, he couldn’t disappoint again. The frost sprite raised a challenging eyebrow, took his staff in both hands and pointed it to the skies above before pulling it down in a quick plunge. The snow mirrored the movements of his staff and fell heavier, harder, the cold air with it and nearly in an instant, the crashing waves started to freeze on the cliff face. All around icicles formed on wires, roof ends, car wing mirrors, anywhere that could hold them. 

Pitch’s gleeful and malicious smile, even if it was just the twitch of one told Jack he had done enough, or so he thought as he looked around. Of course he found it quite beautiful, all the clear ice and the pure white snow. He looked to the windows to see how the children were reacting to his display, only they were nowhere to be seen, their windows fogged over with the chill of the air. Bedroom windows slamming closed all around and causing miniature avalanches on roof tops, snow falling in front of their doors. He had frozen them inside, how could they enjoy the snow from inside? Jack frowned to himself, how would this help him gain believers? He glanced to Pitch and was startled to see he was already being watched. Pitch’s unimpressed expression resurrected with a raised brow and shifted jaw as he nodded in the direction behind Jack. Turing, he could make out the three nightmares already in the far distance, heading on to the next settlement at break neck speed. “There’s more than one village, Frost, or are you only a localised phenomenon?” That tone still didn’t feel right, Jack still couldn’t tell if it was mocking, malice or something else entirely. Pitch wanted him to spread the snow further, then so be it. Jack once again didn’t look back to him before kicking off from the roof and following the nightmares, dragging the cold air and clouds with him. 

Pitch stood with his hands behind his back, watching Jack fade into the distance, leaving a path of snow in his wake. Silvered eyes shifted towards the window where the boy had been staring out of in amazement, it was empty now but the Nightmare King had felt that small glimmer of hopefulness towards a happier tomorrow. Jack still had some convincing to do it seemed, there was no room for jobs half done. Pitch himself saw to it that the little glimmer from the child was snuffed out completely with a terrible nightmare of himself and Jack Frost, a promise that tomorrow was going to be dark, dreadful and scary. 

Jack was sure he had managed to cover quarter of a continent in snow that night, flying back to Pitch’s lair, the nightmares even slow on their hooves as they trotted back into the shadows. There was no flurry of happy wings to greet him this time though, only the worried and sad faces of the countless fairies trapped in their cages. He was exhausted and just put it upon himself to ignore the quiet murmur of pleas from them as he walked back towards the only room he had been shown and near threw himself at the couch to rest. He didn’t think he had ever covered so much ground in one night before, it was a lot of work and he was sure he was going to need to wait a few nights before he tried that again. He curled on the couch and closed his eyes, sheltering his face with his hand and settling in to the sound of his breathing. 

He could hear the quiet sound of sand shifting and the smallest of breathy noises coming from flared nostrils. A nightmare, he should have suspected as much after all there was nothing else protecting sleep and dreams. Daring a glance between his fingers, he saw how close the nightmare was, though she didn’t seem to be spreading her sand, just stood watching him. Frowning, he sat himself up a fraction and looked back to her. “What do you want?” He asked, wondering if it was the same mare as before, they all looked the same to him after all. The mare did nothing but look at him, softly rumbling at him as her ears pricked forward. Jack’s frown only deepened and after a moment, he moved the end of his staff to gently shift her further back. “Whatever it is, leave me alone, I just want to rest.”

“Rest?” Pitch’s voice called at him from the shadowed archway, his tall figure looming towards him slowly and seemed so much more menacing in doing so. “Did that prove too much for you?” Said without any sort of mask it was no question, no invite to express his discomfort. The mare backed off gently and walked out, Pitch didn’t seem to pay her any mind as she did, his focus was dedicated to Jack. “You cover part of a coast in snow and you’re tired? Have I overestimated your potential Frost or were you holding yourself back?”

Jack sat himself up properly, clutching his staff that bit tighter but he couldn’t yet bring himself to look Pitch in the eyes again, he had promised him so much and given him a home, or as much of one he had ever had. It was night one but he sensed he had not met the mark Pitch expected of him. “There is such a thing as too much snow.” He answered, disappointed that Pitch did not seem to understand how important it was to keep a line that should not be crossed, that went from winter to ice age. 

“Is that what the guardians told you?” He sighed and then placed himself down on the couch next to Jack, looking over him in an almost convincingly caring sort of way, long grey fingers reaching out to rest on Jack’s shoulder and squeezing him ever so slightly. “All your life you have been unseen, not believed in, just an expression. Whatever it is that’s holding you back, Jack, is the reason you can’t be seen, the reason you are not believed in.” Jack didn’t move nor could he think how to respond to that save heave at his heavy chest. Centuries he had been wandering the earth to no avail. Forever toeing the line between just enough and too much. “Just try it my way, listen to what I suggest and together we can get what we both want. I called you family, Jack and I meant it, I am just looking out for you.” Jack could have sworn he saw the faintest hint of a smile in that expression too and he couldn’t help but mirror it. For once in his life he did have someone who believed in him, and it came in the form of Pitch Black and Jack felt himself compelled to do him proud. 

The following night, Pitch sent Jack out with the nightmares again, asking for bigger, stronger and more impressive storms and each night Jack nearly outdid himself. Bringing with him such a cold chill that by the end of the fortnight, the entire continent was covered in a thick and troubling blanket of snow. Steadily, like it was with anything else when it came to practice, Jack could feel himself growing stronger, that he could push himself that little bit further each and every time. The snows fell harder, the icicles grew larger, the frost started to enter homes, woke adults from their slumber sometimes only moments after the nightmares were done with their bidding on the children. If he could affect adults, then surely he was gaining believers somewhere, right? 

Despite his enthusiasm and determination, Jack returned to Pitch’s lair each night, landing on the couch in the library and near passing out with exhaustion. Even the scuttling of fearlings or the ever watchful nightmare didn’t disturb his slumber, working with Pitch seemed to bring with it the sort of slumber that he thought only Sandy could have delivered. Though inevitably, each of his sleeps were eventually dictated by reminders of his failure with the guardians, reliving the moment of Sandy’s demise over and over again and shuddering each twilight that he was now working with the very man that had killed him. 

When he did rise to get ready for work, Pitch’s orders came in their entirety, the same words repeated each time Jack and the ever-growing band of nightmares were stood ready to go. “Bigger. Colder. More.” The nights became repetitive, his snow storms growing in size for sure but never enough to cause harm, never enough to entrap people in their homes, just enough to feed the uncertainties and worries of adults just the right amount for children to be wary, to carry the fear with them that he had promised to keep in the waking hours. He could see his methods were working, Pitch was growing stronger, though he still dodged the daylight he held no qualms about being out in the full moon, in full view of the oldest guardian, unafraid. 

Pitch joined him on the latest trip, revelling in the fear that drowned the community he and Jack visited. As the snows fell, even covering Pitch in a dusting of white, the Nightmare King beckoned him over to an open window and slipped inside. Pulling more of the snow from the heavens in one fell swoop, Jack abandoned his work to follow Pitch, landing on the white dresser of a little girl’s room, Pitch already observing her from the side of her bed. 

“I’ve been meaning to show you that all this is being done in equal measure.” He whispered quietly, apparently not wanting to disturb the child just yet. “While you’re out there frosting, my nightmares and I are on the ground repaying you.” It began with enough of a warm tease that Jack’s smile appeared, ‘frosting’ he rather liked that. Slowly Pitch gathered up nightmare sand, enough to form shapes as he let them slip from his fingers. One was clearly the tall menacing figure of Pitch, the other was Jack and a black snowflake. Somewhat amazed by the nightmare sand version of himself, he moved in closer, stepping off the dresser and towards the bed. 

Steadily, the figures seemed to laugh and rush about, chasing something though the tiny figures of he and Pitch seemed to be enjoying themselves and Jack couldn’t help but huff out a small laugh, which seemed to please the King all too much as he nearly beamed back at him. He watched them chase and laugh quite happily until he heard the smallest noise of complaint from the girl whose nightmare he was watching. Her face all scrunched up in worry, her hands twitching and legs rustling, she was running. Jack’s smile slid from his face and his heart ached in his chest, she was being chased by Pitch and Jack in her nightmare. Looking back to Pitch who seemed all too happy leaning against the girl’s pillow on his elbows and lightly tapping the figures to make them grow or morph into scarier shapes of themselves, sharpened teeth, claws and the like. 

“How will this help them believe in me?” It sounded selfish, he was sure it sounded accusatory too but it was not something he had agreed to. For Pitch to be putting his face next to the horror of his nightmares just seemed so wrong to him. Pitch gave off another of his sighs and his gaze shifted to him once again, that beaming smile already wiped from his features. 

“Team work.” He whispered again. “I give them an image just like Sanderson would do for the guardians. I show them how we work, how the world is without their guardians, that there are only two beings left to believe in. Pitch Black-“ He pointed to him, “And Jack Frost. They know your name, they know you’re responsible for the snowdays. Soon, I am sure, they’ll even be able to see you.” Pitch gave the smallest of proud shrugs as he looked on at the sleeping girl. “You are feeling stronger lately, why do you think that is? Do you think it might be because I’m explaining what’s going on? What they’re seeing when they wake each night?” 

Jack shook his head, leaning against his staff and thinking that over. It was all he ever wanted, but something in him told him it was the wrong way to go about it. Whatever moment it was that granted him that small expression of doubt, it was sensed by the King and without warning, Pitch stretched across the bed and grabbed Jack by the collar, waking the girl in the meantime and sending her into a screaming panic as she caught sight of what was in her room. Jack barely had time to acknowledge it before he was engulfed in shadows, his staff falling away from him and out of reach. 

Darkness. Jack’s eyes took far too long to adjust, his hand feeling out for a sense of where he was. “Pitch?” He called out to his supposed partner, searching desperately for a sense of where he had been taken. His fingers brushed against a cool metal and Jack jumped in surprise, touching it again carefully and wrapping his hand around it. It was roughly the same width as his staff but when he tried to pull it, it stayed solid, stuck to the ground. “Pitch?” He called out again desperately but he had no answer save for the echo of his own voice. His other hand reaching out beyond the pole that he held came into contact with another. Startled, Jack ran his hands along the edges, feeling out as his fingers brushed against bar after bar. He had been caged. Panicked, Jack pulled and tugged at the bars to no avail, calling out into the darkness for Pitch, for help and when hours passed with no promise of escape, when he lost all sense of time. Jack eventually lay himself down and slept.


	3. Enforcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is forced to confront his failures again as he must decide if he was meant to be a guardian or if he was always meant to side with Pitch.

Darkness should have been easier to sleep in that most thought it was. Jack was constantly aware of nightmares prowling around unseen in the shadows around him. That familiar flare of nostrils telling him that he was being watched. As he drifted off to sleep, he was very aware that they would keep their distance, waiting for the right time to do their work, waiting for him to be deep enough in a sleep that he would take a long time to wake from their terrors. 

It was impossible not to sleep, the silence, the darkness the enormous burden of all that had happened weighing heavily on his shoulders not to mention the sheer exhaustion that came from all of his storms and attempts at pulling down the bars that held him. Inevitably, Jack fell victim to endless nightmares in that darkness. So often reliving being powerless to save the Baby Teeth, the anger of Bunnymund when he had failed to help them in the tunnels, losing Easter and seeing the disappointment and upset in North’s eyes not to mention the sight of the black sand swallowing Sandy, the last wisps of gold vanishing into the cloud. It was like the images were on repeat and even Jack wasn’t sure if it was the nightmares or his own mind that plagued him whenever he rested. Regardless, he was still glad of the chance to rest, his reactions to the painful memories slowly turning from hurt to anger and eventually a numbness an apathy that lingered when one saw something far too often and learned when to look away from the worst parts.

He was sat against the bars, his head tucked into his arms, willing away the sounds and unease that haunted him. A distant shout practically knocked his heart into his throat, Jack’s head nearly smacking against the bars as he looked up. There, high above him was the jingling of bells and the familiar triumphant cheers of North himself! “North!” Jack cried out to him, springing to his feet and unbelievably overjoyed as he made out the shape of that magnificent sleigh. The large man battling away nightmare men by the dozen, fluttering from under him came Toothiana, flying effortlessly between challengers and fighting them with a ferocity Jack could only sigh an admiration for. He didn’t cheer them on though, if they were here they were certainly there to stop Pitch and him from doing their work. He looked around his shadowy surroundings, searching for any means of an escape, he could play peace maker if he had to but he couldn’t just sit in a cage and let them attack each other. 

“Looking for another way out?” The accent rang out as its own identification, Bunnymund had arrived and found him. “Isn’t that what you always do? Run away?” The muscular shape appeared just on the other side of the bars, about the only thing Jack could actually see around him but even in the little light provided, it was enough to confirm it was indeed the Easter Bunny. 

“I’m not running away. I want to get out to help.” Jack protested before he could stop himself, hands balling into fists and jaw knotting as he looked the oversized rabbit up and down. But all the rabbit did was laugh, hard enough that even his nose and whiskers twitched. He pulled his boomerang from behind his back and held it in both hands, glancing to Jack threateningly. 

“But who is it you’re going to help? Pitch Black? Us?” The rabbit leaned in closer, so close that Jack could feel the heat of his breath. “Yourself?” He gave a pause but Jack couldn’t summon up an answer to him, all of them, he wanted to help all of them so that they could work things out, to co-exist. “Easter is lost because of you. The fairies are trapped because of you. Sandy is dead because. Of. You. How much more damage are you going to do before you realise you’re no help to anyone?” Tears stung at Jack’s eyes, Bunny never believed in him, never trusted him and even when Jack was at his weakest and lowest, he didn’t even seek to help him. Jack couldn’t help himself as the feelings bubbled up inside him, a hatred towards the bunny. 

Before he could open his mouth to retaliate with all his might, he was interrupted by a loud crashing noise behind him, whatever it was knocking him off his feet and into the bars where Bunny’s arms wrapped around his shoulders and held him tight against them. Jack managed to crane his neck enough to see that North’s sleigh had crashed into the floor of his cage, the lights just enough to illuminate what it was that had happened. The wreck creaked and shifted before the large form of North struggled free, leaning on his sword and looking to Jack not with exhaustion but with anger, something that didn’t at all suit the man. 

“You!” He accused and pointed his other hand to Jack. “This was your fault. All of this. We have lost believers, we are losing our powers now because of you. You couldn’t be like us, so you made us like you, no believers, nobody to see us.” Jack struggled against Bunny’s hold and kicked out desperately. 

“No, it’s not what I wanted, I didn’t want any of this.” He protested, “Let go of me!” But the hold did not relinquish and North approached ever closer. The fluttering of wings called him to look up as Tooth dived down towards them, anger in her eyes and the same intent he was sure that she had shown the nightmare men above him, her feathers falling out endlessly as she got closer, covering the floor with colourless forms that just seemed to vanish into the shadows.

“This mess, all of this is your doing. Our plans are ruined, now Pitch will be able to rule the world. Are you happy?” She yelled at him, her hands swiping for him but Jack managed to dodge just enough that she caught Bunny instead, earning a crisp swear from the rabbit but nothing else. 

Jack felt heat building from deep inside him, an unusual feeling for him but one he could not contain as he yelled, “I don’t know what I want! You never saw any hope for me, you complained about me, called me a nuisance, I was no more in a cage with you than I am now, following you around and staying away from my true potential.” Jack’s outburst was not met with any sort of reaction from the guardians, none that he could pick out anyway, still approaching him, holding him or swiping at him angrily. It was in that panicked chaos that something bright and gold caught Jack’s eye, looking passed the bars and the guardians, he could make out the smallest trail of dreamsand but that was impossible. 

Jack jumped awake at the base of his cage, startled and sat bolt upright only to come face to face with a staring mare. That’s all it had been, a nightmare, a horrible, cruel nightmare that he was sure was tailored to him. He waved his hands angrily at the mare’s face. “Shoo, or I’ll turn you into an ice sculpture when I see you next.” He warned, but the mare’s ears only pricked forward and she rumbled at him softly. “Shoo!” He yelled and waved his hands at her again, sure enough, she turned and trotted away back into the darkness. Glad to be alone for once, Jack rubbed over his face and managed to wipe away the tears before they escaped, flicking away the little ball of sand that had gathered in the corner of his left. That had been a terrible nightmare, to see his friends hurt, to hear them blame him for everything, some odd sense of pride slipped in though, in that he had somehow managed to remain as neutral as he believed he could, convinced that if the fight ever were to arise, he could do the same in reality. 

Taking his hand from his face and glancing around at the darkness that surrounded him once more, becoming accustomed to not being able to see more than two feet ahead of him and leaning his head back against the bars. With so much darkness, it made other things stand out so much more vividly and as he stared out into the near abyss, there sat within reach was the smallest ball of yellow he thought he might ever see. He frowned and creeped forward to investigate it, plucking it from the floor and bringing it as close to him as he could. Was this the sleepy grit he had just flicked from his eye? Why was it yellow? He remembered seeing the dreamsand in the nightmare, it had been the tell-tale sign to him that what was happening was not real, for how could there be dreamsand if Sanderson was dead? Yet there he was staring at a grain of it. Was he still dreaming maybe? It was impossible to tell in the cage. 

He pondered the grain for long hours, slipping it and his hands into his hoodie pocket and trying to keep it as safe as he could given the circumstances. Perhaps it was all that was left of Sandy’s dreamsand, a single grain that just happened to land on Jack in his nightmare. Tears came again, being trapped alone with his thoughts had never been a worry for him until this occasion, the blame and the guilt falling on him so much that he could feel its crushing weight in his chest. Days passed with much the same feeling, nightmare after nightmare chasing him down further away from his belief that he would ever do anything right. 

Waking from his latest endurance, Jack gasped but settled himself down again quickly, perhaps this was simply to be the punishment for his failures, he had disappointed the guardians and angered Pitch, his single believer, maybe this fate was fitting. As had become the norm for his comfort and pondering, Jack rubbed the grain of dreamsand between his finger and thumb. It was an odd feeling, without even having to look at it, he felt like it was a part of the Sandman and that in itself was something Jack was sure he would protect and carry with him forever, no matter what happened. That feeling of closeness to the one being that had brought him some comfort over his life, acknowledged his existence and encouraged him when others doubted him. Sandy had been a special being and Jack both hated and understood the reasons why Pitch decided that he had to die rather than just stifle belief in him. 

The faint sound of the shifting sand of the nightmares brought his mind back to the situation, no longer bothering to look over his shoulder, nor trying to scare them off. They would come no matter what he tried and over the days that had passed, he had learned to accept them as a presence he would have to get used to. He didn’t even need to look to know that one of the mares was staring at him again, rumbling to him softly. It felt eerie, unreal that such a beast could make such a soft noise between the flaring of nostrils and the high-pitched neighs that came from them normally. “I’m still awake. Go away and come back when you can actually do your job.” He said into the darkness bitterly. 

“My, my, you think you can dictate how it is my nightmares can do their jobs now?” Pitch’s silky voice slipped from the shadows of Jack’s cage and in an instant he was on his feet, hands out of his hoodie and fingers spread, thinking hard on how he might defend himself from an attack, the nightmare that had been preying on him trotting away once again. “They know what it is I expect them to do.” He sneered, still hidden in the darkness around him. How many times might the king have been there, watching him without Jack knowing? “You on the other hand, needed a little more convincing.” His tone held notes of disappointment and despite himself, Jack felt a pang of guilt that he had failed Pitch. 

“I was working for you, I was doing as you asked.” Jack replied but his own voice held no resentment, no bite nor accusation. “I just didn’t like the idea of my image causing children to be—” He couldn’t say fearful, that was the whole point was it not? “Waking from sleep and picturing me as part of the blame.” 

Pitch sighed softly and finally his tall grey form materialised out of one of the dark corners. “How to make you understand, Jack.” Long fingers rubbed at the king’s temple, “You can create storms and snow flurries to your heart’s content but can you create sweltering summer days? I wouldn’t think so.” What was his point? Jack frowned in thought but made no effort to interrupt, wanting to hear Pitch out. “The same applies to me, I can no more create happy dreams and peaceful nights than Sanderson would create nightmares.” The sentence flew from him with such ease that Jack was convinced that he had likely used it before on someone else. “I am the Nightmare King, Jack, I specialise in nightmares and terrors. My centre is fear and that’s what my work is based upon. In putting your image in my work, explaining what the snow is and who brought it, I am doing all I can to gain you believers.” 

Jack watched him for a moment after that, thoughts flying through his head as he considered that sentence. It had to be true, Pitch couldn’t exactly send good dreams of Jack playing with children in the snow. It made sense and Jack felt foolish for ever doubting Pitch, he had called him family and while he had never intended to cause him insult in his moment of uncertainty, he could understand why he had lashed out as he had. It didn’t explain the nightmares being set on him though and Jack remembered that with some considerable discomfort that Pitch had sought to punish him in ways no other would even know how to. Was he his partner or another of his minions? “You sent me nightmares.” He said quietly, his blue eyes settled on Pitch and the hurt feelings he had once held around the guardians now surfaced around Pitch. 

“Ah, yes.” Pitch agreed, taking a small swoop forwards and not giving Jack the option to back away from him before putting his hand on his shoulder, “I had to make you understand what it was I could see and you couldn’t. You proved to already knew though, that the guardians were maybe even purposefully standing in your way. Locking you in their own version of a cage without you even being aware of it at the time. They were not your friends Jack, and while it seems cruel to you now, in my attempts of showing you what it was they were really like, it was meant to and will free you from your reserves and feeling that you might under any circumstances be betraying them by siding with who it was you were always meant to stand with.” He smiled and put his hand to his own chest while his eyes read him seriously. 

“Sandy-“ There was a moment where Jack wished to ask about the reasons for including the reminder of Sandy in the nightmares, why it was he thought to include something that would teach him nothing but how guilty he should have felt in his own failure, but he stopped himself, what was the point in arguing about it now anyway? It was nothing he could change after all.

Still, Pitch sneered at the mention of the Sandman and glared at Jack, “Sanderson could have sent happy dreams of you to the countless children just as easily as I can send nightmares and yet he didn’t. He was no angel, he might have seemed like a puffy marshmallow to you, but I saw him do some unspeakable things in his time, cruel, merciless.” Pitch snarled, his teeth bared and his breathing that fraction heavier as his hands balled into fists. It was clear that Pitch did not like Sandy and his fair points that Sandy could have sent dreams of him to children centuries ago made him think that perhaps he did not know the little guardian as well as he thought he did, who was he to argue with what Pitch seemed to know about him? Jack stayed silent and bowed his head in sadness and shame. Pitch had truly been the only one to look out for him and try to help him gain believers. 

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly, looking back up to the tall figure. “I’m sorry for ever doubting you, for disappointing you. I should have trusted you like you trust me and I will from now on.” Jack panted as tears stung at his eyes once again, looking to Pitch to show his sincerity as the king peered down at him, a sceptical brow raised and hands once again tucked neatly behind his back. “I’ll prove my worth to you. I’ll bring in a blizzard so strong that the fear of it lasts for months and the fear of it happening again lasts for decades.” It blurted out before he could stop it, but there it was and Jack got what he was looking for, Pitch smiled, pleased at that promise. 

In an instant, the bars fell away to nothing and Jack found himself in the library once again, breathing in what felt like freedom from the claustrophobic cage and so very relieved to be out of there. Pitch approached him with his staff and held it out for him to take respectfully, “That’s all I could have hoped for, Jack. I’ve been busy in your absence.” He nodded to the heard of nearly fifty strong nightmares behind Jack. “Enjoy it out there.” He told him and with a little click of his tongue, the heard galloped passed them and up to the hole in the roof, Jack kicking from the ground and following them.


	4. The Perfect Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack creates his biggest and most daring snowstorm yet, verging on creating atmospheric chaos when he is confronted with yet another dilemma.

The flight felt incredibly freeing, Jack was so glad to be out of the cage and the darkness that he near danced with his staff as he flew on the wind, laughing and smiling as the element seemed to rejoice in his return too, resembling much of his former self in that moment. The black cloud of nightmares below him shifted and followed him wherever it was they were going, trying this time to use the wind to carry them with him so that they could get to work sooner. Jack knew that he really had to pull it out of the bag with this storm, that he really had to impress Pitch and while he was many miles away from any civilisation, from any territory once protected by the guardians, he started to gather up the air, the clouds and their rain, dragging it all with him and the nightmares towards their next target, a midland city. 

Eventually, Jack’s gathering of air was so large that it was slowing him down, he released the nightmares, knowing his work began after theirs was finished. They hit the ground galloping and tossing their heads ferociously, their hooves silent on the ground but their screeching whinnies filling the wind with a terrifying promise, creating a howl unlike anything Jack had heard before. Above him, Jack could see the smallest glimmer of a new moon being covered by the mass of cloud he was dragging behind him, he smiled to himself, wondering if the Man in the Moon was learning what it was like to be ignored and without answers for so long. 

The more air he gathered, the colder the breeze became and by the time he reached the city, the very breath of winter was carried with him with a sharp icy chill that even the frost sprite could feel scratching in his lungs. He thrust his staff forward and the clouds overtook him, all the air he had gathered hurtling passed him at merciless speeds. Far above clashes of lightning illuminated his miles high masterpiece and snow fell, carried at break neck speed on the freezing air. It hit the trees first, the force of its arrival knocking branches from their seats, uprooting even the biggest looking tree and burying it in minutes. This was to be his finest work yet, he could tell Pitch had continued to send his image in his nightmares, that despite what had happened, Pitch had upheld his part of the bargain and Jack was stronger than he thought he may ever have been. He could only smile to himself for it as he watched the polar worthy chaos descend on the city. 

Landing in a field not so far out, Jack leaned on his staff to watch as the lights of the houses and tower blocks went out, building by building, street by street as the cold took away all light and warmth, plunging the entire area into the darkness he had become so accustomed to. The blizzard so cruel and biting that even the most robust looking building took a battering so fierce that its walls and windows seemed to be cracking and creaking under the additional weight of the relentless snow. The nightmares scuttling on ahead and the mass of seemingly endless cloud trailed behind them. 

Looking at what he could do, what he had created and that it had all come from Pitch believing in him he grew angry at himself and the others, how dare he hold himself back from what he was truly capable of. The sort of power that he held dictated so much of the other’s work, what tooth fairy could fly in this? What sleigh could withstand this storm without falling apart? What eggs could find hiding places under such a blanket without being lost for months? What dreams could find their way through the streams of white? They hadn’t wanted him to reach his true strength, he could get in the way of each of their duties, they would be at his mercy. Jack wiped away a frozen tear with his sleeve, sniffing to himself. They had their chance for his mercy. 

The snow kept falling and the wind kept howling, Jack stood watching the chaos unfold, his hoodie flapping in the wind, nearly white for the ice that plastered itself to him. Admiring his own work and wondering about what his true centre might actually be, it couldn’t be fear, that belonged to Pitch, what else might it be? Struggle? No, he didn’t much like that. Could his centre not simply be cold?

“Hey!” Cried a voice on the wind. Jack frowned and looked around carefully, who could be out in his biggest storm yet? “Hey!” It came again, still muffled by the wind but enough that Jack could sense it was coming from his left. There, he could see a couple of people one of them young, pre-teen maybe and wrapped in several layers that perhaps made them seem bigger than they truly were. Beside them was an adult, tugging at their hand and trying to lead them towards the city. “We need help!” The voice cried again, their free hand cupping around their mouth to help protect their words form the wind. Funny. He was sure they were looking at him. Jack turned his head to see if there were more people behind him that they could have been calling out to, but he saw no one. “Please!” They begged to the back of his head, Jack turned again and decided to check it out for himself, hopping on the wind to carry him closer. The child seemingly watched him as he went and startling enough to fall backwards into the snow when Jack landed in front of her. 

He leaned over her to examine why she might have fallen, perhaps the wind he had used to carry himself was stronger than he thought? Mind, the gales around them should have been strong enough to knock her off her feet anyway. He looked to her face and leapt back himself when he saw her looking to him in return. He landed sat in the snow and stared at her as the adult pulled her back up to her feet, her free arm pointing back to Jack as she was dragged along. “It’s not far now, we’ll be there in no time, they’ll have a fire going and warm food. We’ll be fine.” Came a muffled assurance from the girl’s father. 

After a moment to process all that had just happened, Jack got up from his snowy seat and chased after them carefully, the girl screaming when she caught sight of him doing so. “Jack Frost is coming!” She yelled and in an instant, as if it was a command. Jack stopped in his tracks. She could see him! She knew who he was! He gasped out a noise of surprise, after centuries of trying to be seen, after trying all he could to be loved, it took fear and desperation to finally have someone see him, perhaps it meant that the little girl could see him for what he truly was. The father pulled at the girl’s arm again and lead her on through the blizzard. Meanwhile, Jack leapt into the air, hollering up his excitement and hurtling towards the cloud to tare through it in the hopes of causing more snow to fall, smiling and laughing to himself. At last! Someone could see him! He was believed in and now he had proof. 

He wanted to know the girl’s name, to remember her as his first human believer, the first ever human to see him and recognise him! He angled his body again and let himself dive back towards the ground, bringing more snow with him as he searched for his first believer. He spotted her but something was wrong, her father had vanished. Concerned and more than a bit confused, Jack landed beside her and shrugged off her startled gasp as she fell back into the snow once again, he moved to pull her from the ground before she was buried in snow, grabbing her arm and standing her up on her feet again. “What’s your-“ 

He didn’t get a chance to ask her before he felt a pair of little hands shove hard against his stomach. Jack, a little winded by this sudden attack looked to the girl accusingly. Her face was streaked with white, her eyelashes heavy and her face bright red. She had been crying, they were frozen tears on her little face. The reality hit Jack harder than any nightmare that had come for him in his sleep and he raised a hand in an attempt to show that he meant her no harm. 

“It’s okay. I’m a friend.” He explained, part in a yell so that she could hear him over the wind. “Where’s your father?” Asked carefully as he looked around to see if he could see the adult. He couldn’t leave the child out in the cold all alone, the situation was much more serious than just fear. The girl cried even more, further tears sticking to her cheeks, frozen in place before they could fall from her chin. “It’s okay.” Jack repeated and held out his hand for her to take, mindful that she was still somewhat afraid of him. “I’m going to help you find him. I promise, everything is going to be alright.” He gave her a little smile and after a moment of looking at his hand, at the endless white around her and then to Jack’s smiling face, the girl eventually took his hand and held him tight. He gasped at the touch, so used to people going through him that to have a physical form strong enough to hold just the girl’s hand earned its own smile and amazement.

Jack gave her another smile and her hand a small squeeze, glad that she had trusted him, he was suddenly feeling rather protective of his first believer and he pulled her in closer to him as he scanned the area for her father. His own storm so relentless that he was struggling to even make out the city any more. He squinted through what he could see, walking with her a few paces at a time to see if there was any sign of tracks, listening out for calls on the wind of where he might be and realising that his storm could very well have hurt the girl’s father, or worse. He swallowed, this had been something he was not at all prepared for, not at all willing to do and he cursed himself as he fought with his promises to Pitch and his morals regarding the lives of children and indeed any other human. 

Reluctantly, Jack raised his staff and banged it to the snowy floor. In an instant, everything stopped! The snow barely falling around them, the howling wind fading out to nothing. Complete stillness descended and the black cloud above halted and began breaking up under its own unnatural weight, the little moonlight there was managing to break through enough to light up the snow-covered land. Ignoring the moon’s glare, Jack held the girl in a little closer and tried once again to scan the surroundings for the adult, feeling her hugging at his waist, her warm hold completely foreign to him, his own reaction completely unsure but it felt nice! So this had been what he was missing out on for so long? He looked down to her but she did not look to him, knowing that she was too busy looking on to a white canvas with no sign of anyone else anywhere nearby. 

As if summoned by the silence, a large arm popped out of the snow a few meters away, the girl released Jack’s waist and clambered through the deep snow to get to the flailing arm, which landed itself to the side as a head and torso appeared, frosted goggles peering out just in time to see the child running towards him and catch her in his arms as he cried his relief and upset, holding her in close and cuddling her tight. Jack watched on, realising how close he might have come to being put on that ‘merciless’ list of beings. He too breathed out a sigh of relief, that was not how he wanted his first ever human believer to have remembered him, at least now it seemed it would be a happier memory than what could have been. 

He didn’t wait around, he didn’t want to face the accusations of the girl that he had nearly killed her father, he wanted such a memory to have a happy ending. Anyway, it was not his job to interfere further, the girl and her father would have to deal with the snow on their own, though it had sounded like her father had a plan. Jack took off with the wind and made to follow the path of his snowstorm, looking for the nightmares as the wind carried him. Through all that fear in thinking he had caused the death of someone, Jack remembered that the little girl had seen him, had held onto him and was now thoroughly convinced that cold and dark truly were meant to work together, that he and Pitch would make the perfect team. Jack could always stop him from going too far and he was sure Pitch could do the same to him. 

He caught up with the nightmares and the remnants of his storm, many miles away, giving an extra gust of wind to make it seem like he had simply been bringing up the tail end of the clouds rather than dispersing the storm altogether. Dawn was approaching quickly and Jack got close enough to the nightmaresand to point it out to the lead mare, who turned the herd just enough so they could head back along a different path and get home faster, Jack flying beside them and still grinning to himself, he couldn’t wait to tell Pitch of his first believer, but he wondered what parts he should tell in full and which he should keep to himself. He was sure Pitch didn’t want to take lives, if he did then he would be losing a source of fear, right? Maybe he would appreciate that Jack had saved the father and the girl, they would certainly be much more scared of the snow now, maybe even scared of the dark. They were considerations he knew he would have to decide upon before he got back home. Perhaps his large storm was impressive enough to earn him somewhere nicer to rest than the library or the cage. With a hopeful heart and still baring that excitement, Jack and the nightmares continued down into the dark lair of the Nightmare King and that of Jack Frost too.


	5. Honesty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack returns to tell Pitch about his believer and what happened in the storm, but he begins to understand the true gravity of the situation he has got himself into.

Used to the quiet murmurs and upset sniffling of the caged fairies by now, Jack just marched passed them and towards the library with the nightmares whose gallops had slowed to a tired walk as they headed into the shadows of the liar, Jack wandered if it was to rest or to just turn into piles of sand, something of a mini mystery he was far too preoccupied to try and find out in that instant, instead heading into the library and that couch he had so dearly missed in the cage.

When he walked under the arch way, he saw Pitch conversing with himself in the shadow filled room. He had never seen the library shrouded in such darkness before, but there were little white lights everywhere too, though there didn’t seem to be a uniform, Jack only smiled to himself, the whole room looked like space, as if the stars were surrounding Pitch. The Nightmare King sensed his presence and turned to face him, beaming at him as he gestured to him happily, “There’s the man of the hour!” He nearly cheered, though the silkiness of his voice allowed only for a slightly more jubilant tone to that of his usual glacial sharpness.

Jack rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled as he looked to the shadow filled floor, admiring two of the smaller white lights and going a little coy as Pitch approached him smiling. His long grey fingers landing on his shoulders and his back a little bent to lean in close, just smiling to him and for once, Jack saw no malice, no discontent for him in that look and couldn’t help but mirror the smile. Pitch was happy! He had done well! He pulled Jack in a little further into the starry room and lead him towards the seat of his couch, the darkness shifting enough for him to see where it was he was to sit.

“I don’t know how much you can feel, but every drop of fear feels ten times more luxurious after tonight. That was quite the storm you managed to gather.” Pitch made no effort to sit down himself, standing in front of Jack with his hands behind his back and yes, still beaming at him. “Adults and children, animals even, Jack! It’s incredible, I haven’t felt this strong in so long, long enough that even you weren’t around to see it.”

Jack let out a pleased little huff, hearing praise like that felt like such a rare thing and he was only annoyed at himself when he felt water gathering against his eyelids. He wiped his face with the edge of his sleeve and smiled to Pitch all the more. “It’s a good night for both of us then.” He said happily, watching as Pitch’s head titled to the side slightly but was so glad and encouraged when that smile remained. “I was seen!” Jack exclaimed, his hands waving out a little into the shadow around him, still in some disbelief himself.

Pitch’s smile only grew and his hand gestured towards him, unmistakable pride on his features as he himself exclaimed, “I told you it wouldn’t be long! I told you! I doubt there will be a single child on this planet that won’t believe in Jack Frost by the end of the month.” Pitch shifted in the darkness, a few of the stars drifting away from him softly as he walked deeper into the room, his finger on his chin and a smile over his shoulder. “Tell me about it? What happened?”

Oh, Jack had been waiting for that invite and he leaned forward in his seat as he began his tale. “I dragged up as much snow and cold air as I could, enough that by the time the nightmares had arrived, the ground was already freezing, windows already frosting, the works.” Pitch’s interest earned Jack a pair of folded arms and several nods for him to continue. “I threw it at the city and landed in a field to watch it all take effect, I swear that even I have never seen so much snow flying nearly horizontally the wind was so strong, knocking down trees, cracking glass, the works.” Jack shrugged as if it was nothing but he was rather proud of himself. “While I was stood watching, I heard someone crying out for attention. I looked and there was a girl and her father trying to make it through my storm, walking out in the middle of nowhere in everything I was throwing at the land around them. At first I didn’t think she was talking to me and I tried to see if there were others behind me but as it turns out, she could make me out in the blizzard and thought I was a human.” Jack laughed and he was sure he heard one of Pitch’s low chuckles. “So I go over there, land beside her and she falls over in fright, her father picking her out of the snow as she yells at him that Jack Frost is coming!” He smiled and chuckled to himself, rubbing at the back of his neck again, he was sorry he had startled her but he was glad he had managed to help her in the end, in his own way he didn’t get the chance to elaborate though, Pitch must have thought it was the end of the story.

“Brilliant!” Grey hands clapped together, but there wasn’t the usual echo filling the room that such a noise might have made, Jack looked around a little but didn’t think much of it, vaguely aware that the stars seemed to twinkle or flash every now and again, thinking it a nice and simple touch, there was beauty in darkness, he had come to understand that. It was easier to spot the brightest of things in the dark after all. Then he remembered the grain of dreamsand and slipped his hand into his hoodie pocket to search for it with little hope, he had used a great deal of wind, his hoodie had been flapping about for hours. He felt around the lining, across the frosty texture that lingered about him always but found no grain. Jack let out a soft sigh, it was no matter, it was of the past, of the old guardians and of one he had barely known, so what if it was lost? He had known it would eventually vanish as all dreamsand tended to do.

Pitch regarded him at his rummaging, brow raised but smile still on his face, “Lose something?” He checked with what seemed like some real concern mixed in there. Finally. Jack thought to himself, someone actually cared about him, that Pitch could sense that he had lost something from just looking at him. Jack let out a light laugh and shook his head, “Nothing important, old and useless now I suppose and likely long gone in that storm.” He saw Pitch’s gaze stick on him and offered up the answer he wanted. “It was a grain of dreamsand.” He shrugged and looked to Pitch as his smile faded. Jack became aware of a murmur in the room, as if dozens of people were whispering all at once, no sense to be made of their words but enough that proved he and Pitch were not the only beings in the room. “I—I didn’t think it was important, it’s gone now though, probably swallowed by either the ice or one of the nightmares, right?”

Pitch’s smile did not return, his hand pressing against his forehead and a frown creasing around his palm, clearly disturbed by it as Jack looked on. “Gone now, scattered to the wind. A single grain.” Silvered eyes glanced at Jack, but there was no anger in them, not fully understanding what had happened, Jack could only look puzzled, was he supposed to have given it to Pitch? The king must have recognised the look and he let out a soft sigh too. “Sanderson’s dreamsand was a relic of the Golden Age, falling into the wrong hands and in the right combination, it could help to do a great deal of damage to everything we have been working towards.” Pitch let out a small laugh, “I’ve been trying to find the Island of Sleepy Sands, but we’ve had no luck yet. I’m not sure if it would have disintegrated with Sanderson or not, hence my concern for the grain, it might have been carried by the wind by accident.” Pitch gave his own shrug but his was of a less happier nature. “It’s no matter though, soon I’ll be strong enough to eliminate all chances of the relics being united.”

This was all a little over Jack’s head. Golden Age? Relics? What on earth was he talking about? All he thought he should do was nod and smile when Pitch seemed to overcome his concern and upset at the loss of the dreamsand grain. “If I find any more, I’ll keep it and note where I have been pulling the winds from, just in case.” It was a sensible offer and Pitch seemed to approve, though Jack was being careful, trying to spot where that murmuring had come from before.

“Thank you, Jack, it will be important if there is more floating about somewhere.” It wasn’t a demand or an order, but a seemingly genuine comment from a peer, Jack felt himself relax, he could get used to that. “You must be exhausted from that storm though, I would imagine that your back will thank you if you slept in a proper bed for once.” It almost sounded like a tease, but Pitch beckoned for him to follow him. Jack stood up and made to do so, stealing one last look around the starry room to try and figure out who else was in there.

“Hey, Pitch?” He asked and caught the other man looking over his shoulder curiously, “What’s with the stars?” It was said cheerily but he hoped in either disbanding them or explaining, it might reveal the other visitor. Pitch frown at him in response but again it was not anger or upset more confusion.

“Stars?” He asked in return and glanced around the room himself, his brow rising again as he did so and a small crack of another type of smile appeared on his face, “No, there are no stars here, Jack. No place for starlight in my home. Maybe you should take a look again.”

That filled him with a sense of unease but he did as Pitch suggested, looking to the stars in the room, seeing them twinkle and flash--- no. They weren’t flashing, they were _blinking!_ Jack jumped where he stood, all of the white orbs were in pairs, all of them were set staring at him. The room was filled with nightmare men, there must have been over a hundred of them just stood there listening to them talking. He had never seen so many of them, not even in the nightmares had he considered that there could ever be so many of them in one place all at once that they actually were the shadows of a room. He shuddered, he had been sat between them, had even seen them move to make a space for him on the couch. His stomach twisted and bubbled, his heart pounding in his chest. Pitch had an army of them, he had nightmares, himself and Jack as well. Just how unbalanced had he made this fight? He looked back up to Pitch who gave him another of his smiles and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sure they would be flattered that you thought of them as stars though.” He said, loud enough to cause several more bouts of murmuring from the room and Jack shifted in the direction Pitch had originally indicated they were going, wanting out of that room as soon as possible, he had been surrounded and he had no idea. Pitch followed him, not relinquishing his shoulder as he did, patting at it lightly but Jack knew he was likely drinking in his fear and discomfort as he did to everyone and everything else. “Don’t worry, they’re nightmare men, more intelligent than the nightmares, they tend to do their own bidding but they won’t bother you, I promise you that.” That almost sounded as if he was trying to comfort him. As they rounded through another archway and down into a shadowy corridor, Jack heaved a sigh of relief.

Pitch only chuckled a little more and patted at his shoulder just the once before letting him go, “I assumed you had seen them, had I known you didn’t know they were there, I would have informed you, it won’t happen again, you’ll be aware of them in the future too.” He promised Jack and began to lead him down the corridor and towards a room with a door. “It’s about time you had your own room, I’ve been working on it for a few days, I hope you like it.” With a small breath to himself, Pitch opened the door and allowed Jack to enter first.

Almost as if he had been doing so instinctively for decades, Jack checked around for any sign of white eyes in the shadows but luckily came across none and he allowed his eyes to move around the room with a little less focused searching. In it was a bed with faux fur blankets, black, naturally. A spiked but infinitely elegant chandelier that had a few mismatched candles stuck on spires, lit already for his convenience. A small rounded window into the world beyond which touched him the most. He knew Pitch didn’t like any sort of sunlight in his lair, so to have put in a window, even a small one was a genuine gesture to make him comfortable beyond the regular black decor. There was a solid looking dressing table, a faux fur rug and a bookshelf filled with books Jack was sure were about winter storms and other icy topics that he would appreciate.

“Do you like it?” Pitch for the first time ever, sounded unsure of himself and Jack wiped at his face again, the fear and sickness he felt about the nightmare men slipping away from him in that moment so he could look to Pitch properly. Welling up before he strode forward and went to hug him in thanks, of course rather new to the whole hugging thing, Jack wasn’t paying all that much attention when Pitch tensed and tried to back out of his reach but turned out to be too slow and caught his arms to his side in that hug. Letting off a stiff noise of discomfort and wriggling in that hold until he accepted that it was fruitless and just went half limp instead and ended up waiting for Jack to let him go.

“Thank you.” Jack said against Pitch’s side. “It’s perfect. Really. Thank you.” He said again and then finally released him, Pitch gasping for air as if he had been prevented from breathing even though Jack knew he had been fine in the hug, just not used to it himself.

“Yeah, you’re welcome.” Pitch said and began brushing small patches of frost form his cloak, glancing to him after a moment. “Don’t -eh, don’t do that again though.” He warned, but Jack was sure that it wasn’t a real request, still he nodded and wiped at his face again to brush away the tears in his eyes. “I’ll leave you to settle in then.” He said and eyed him for another long moment before striding from the door and closing it behind him, leaving Jack in the room by himself.

He settled on the bed and shuffled around with the warm blankets until they were across the floor, much preferring the cold and tapping the end of his staff against the walls to add frost patterns as his own form of decoration. He loved the room, he loved having his own space a home and a room just for him. However, he couldn’t escape the sinking feeling in his stomach that Pitch had been gathering nightmare men, were the nightmares themselves not enough? Why did he need so many nightmare men? He huffed at himself and rubbed a hand over his eyes, he was there to gain believers, to work with Pitch but he was starting to think that he had not been told the full conditions of doing so, as if there might have been a figurative small print that he was foolish enough to ignore before. The new room, perhaps a bribe to keep him sweet rather than a recognition of his efforts and achievements. He smacked his palm against his forehead as punishment and frowned at himself, Pitch was giving him everything he ever wanted, he had to trust him, he was thinking too much like a guardian and he certainly wasn’t one of them!


	6. Reinforcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has earned some considerable rest as he sleeps off his latest storm, he hardly expects to have to face a truth that will bring his loyalties into question.

His room was apparently not sealed against nightmares. That night, Jack woke to find a nightmare staring at him every few hours, sniffing as they did, ears pricked and hooves silently counting on the floor as if it would help usher him off to sleep again so they could continue their work. While the nightmares were not particularly scary, playing on his own experiences rather than anything new, Jack understood that Pitch was not sending them to him and since he had been in the cage, nightmares were simply the norm.

Each time he fell back to sleep, he saw visions of Tooth’s feathers falling out, losing the fairies, North trying to keep the group together, that disappointment on his face when he turned away from Jack at the Egg Hunt, Bunny’s anger and loss of his own hope, the way his ears dropped, Pitch’s disappointment in his first storm and his anger at his doubt, the sea of nightmare men and of course, as always, Sandy’s death. The cycle repeated again and again, endless reminders of his failures and how he felt at each of them, the worry, the guilt, the fear, the rage, the upset. All of them coaxing out those feelings each time he relieved those same memories.

He tried to block them out, to trap them down deep within himself, but they kept repeating, he had thought he had grown numb to them in the cage but since his triumph, they only seemed to have doubled in power, perhaps having good feelings of achievement to feed off and devalue. He went through the cycle again as a nightmare watched over him. The feathers, the fairies, North, Bunnymund, Pitch and Sandy. Failure, guilt, disappointment, hopelessness, inadequacy and loss. The latest cycle landed him where it always did, him leaping up to catch Baby Tooth before she was snatched by the nightmare. The sight of Tooth’s feathers falling, North’s worry, Bunny’s fear and Sandy’s silent gasp. He walked through the passageway with all the caged fairies, each of them crying out and in tears for their capture. In that Egg Hunt, watching Bunnymund trying to physically hand the children the eggs. North, shaking his head, Tooth’s gaze drop away and Sandy watching him, then back to angry Bunny.

Wait. Jack’s frown came upon his sleeping face as he forced himself to turn around and look again in his sleep. Sure enough, Sandy was stood there, a look of concern on his face, his feet on the floor and his sleepy eyes looking so much more exhausted than Jack had ever seen them. He didn’t have that gentle glow about him, nor did he carry that weightlessness that he gave off so naturally. What sort of image was this? Sandy hadn’t been at the Egg Hunt, Jack had never seen him look so worn as he did. Where was it coming from? Sandy seemed to stand there and watch him for a long moment before that sleepy smile returned to his exhausted features and he gave perhaps the most uncertain wave Jack had _ever_ seen.

“S—Sandy?” He called out to him in his sleep, unsure what this was, “You weren’t there for this, you were already gone.” Jack scolded as if he was in anyway trying to protect the painful memories of his mistakes, but he nearly leaped back in freight when Sandy raised a brow in response to him.

More startling was the calm and soft voice that filled his head, as gentle as a soothing thought but certainly not his own. “ _I was not present, but I have witnessed it through you countless times.”_ Jack heaved in a heavy breath, he was dreaming, this much he knew but this was some sort of twisted nonsense. He was aware of being conscious even in his dream and it gave the most unnatural feeling to his surroundings, despite the calm presence of that voice. “ _I have witnessed a greater many things through you.”_ Explained the voice, Sandy smiling to him softly and despite the fact Jack was sure it was the Sandman’s foreign thoughts in this head, Sandy still gestured as he spoke, old habits die hard apparently, even in nightmares.

“What is this?” A reasonable question for a startled sprite, how often was one’s dream interrupted with a sense of consciousness—within said dream and by a deceased friend no less? The whole situation seemed so very unreal, in his deepest heart he knew the being before him was dead. Was this a test from Pitch? Jack shook his head and pulled at his hair, trying hard to wake himself but he had dreamed himself too deep to do so, desperate to be away from the judgement the little man surely had to bestow upon him, Jack turned his back on him to try and keep the memory going, so that he could move on to the next endurance of Pitch being disappointed in his storm. He closed his eyes, balled his fists and drew in heavy breaths. Jack dared a glance back at the Sandman, still there.

“ _No harm will come to you, Jack Frost, I do not mean to cause you worry nor upset. However, I have been trying to talk to you for many nights and have not gained the strength to do so properly until now.”_ He smiled that bit wider and gestured around the dreamscape, Jack stealing his own look around and noticing that the park was empty, no North, Bunny nor Tooth, just he and Sandy. It was about the most peaceful thing Jack had experienced in weeks! “ _Will you speak with me?”_ Came the voice again and Jack looked back to the Sandman who had placed himself down to sit in the grass and propped his back against a tree.

Hesitant and so sure that Pitch would either find out or already know of this exchange, that this test was surely already – “ _This is no test by Pitch.”_ Came the interruption, “ _Though I am sure he would love to learn how to preform a deep mind conversation with someone, I am afraid I am a few millennia of practice ahead of him.”_ It was almost a joke, but Jack felt trapped, once again in an inescapable cage and having to face something he truly wished he didn’t.

Reluctantly, Jack let out a deep sigh and moved to sit opposite Sandy in the grass, the former guardian smiling when he did so but Jack’s returned expression was that of accusation. How _dare_ he be there, how dare he talk to him after all he thought he had let happen? All his mind-numbing sense of guilt over what had happened, his deep upset at losing him, faded with a bitter taste in his mouth. “What do you want, Sandy?” He asked coldly and watched as the guardian’s smile faded and his tired gaze dropped to the grass between them.

“ _To talk.”_ The Sandman gave a shrug but paused, what glow remained fading that little more in a faint flicker which seemed to _hurt_ him, wincing as if it stung and ached, yet that voice remained soothing as he looked up to Jack again. “ _To tell you that what happened to me was not your fault.”_ Jack felt his chest tighten and his heart pound against his ribs, his breath falling short as Sandy continued. _“Pitch has always been a master strategist, I knew that he was looking to end our ancient war once and for all that night when I saw how many nightmares he had brought with him, it is why I threw you from the dreamsand, you still had your choice to make.”_ Sandy’s smile returned and he regarded Jack as if waiting for an answer or a reaction but Jack could give him none, his words still sinking in and the shock of them ironically freezing his senses enough that he missed his chance to offer out that returned comfort before the Sandman’s gaze dropped again, sadly.

Jack watching him, his mouth opening to say something but words failing him, what was there to say? He couldn’t look to the dulled man any longer himself and he too turned his attention to the grass between them, which he noted looked considerably greyer than it had been in his memory. Sitting in silence wouldn’t do him any good but as he played back on Sandy’s words, seven in particular grated against him cruelly. “You think I still had a choice?” He felt rather forced into siding with the guardians, a bargain made for the sake of finding his teeth, which he had since thrown into the Ocean. He rubbed at his face, feeling as if this weren’t a dream at all.

“ _Yes, you were and still are free to choose whichever side you think is right. When North and Aster arranged to bring you to the Pole, when you first arrived and were offered the position, you were not convinced that all we did was correct, that we were trying to bribe children-“_

“They all bribed, except you.” Jack interrupted and sniffed before glancing to Sandy, spotting that soft and warm smile on his face and unable to stop himself from giving back a small one of his own, glad that he at least had the chance to say such a thing. It was short lived as Sandy’s eyes shut and his brow furrowed, his arms wrapping around himself gently and Jack could have sworn he saw him shivering. “Are you alright?” Despite his mixed feelings for him, he couldn’t bare to watch Sandy suffering, it was enough that he had seen his death so many times that he could practically recount each and every nightmare that he had seen surround him in the first place. Sandy gave another of his smiles and opened his eyes again before giving a silent nod, though his arms remained wrapped around himself and Jack was entirely unconvinced.

“ _You tried to help me in all the ways you could have, that ice blast with the nightmaresand was an incredible storm. I do not think any of us saw that coming.”_ Sandy looked that little bit impressed or even proud as he mentioned it but he did not give Jack opportunity to interrupt him, Jack began to wonder if he simply couldn’t afford to stall. “ _However, you remained by the sides of the other guardians, you helped them prepare for Easter and while there were complications, I understand that your initial reason for joining us was to obtain your baby teeth. Your priorities became jumbled up but you did not miss defending the tunnels on purpose, you were not to know what would happen. Pitch is a very clever man, he knew he would have to have you out of the way of the tunnels for his plan to have any chance in working. And we have all fallen foul of Pitch in the past, each of us have fallen for his tricks at one point or another. The Pooka has always been a proud fellow, but his anger was likely not at you not being in the tunnels, but at his own loss of Easter.”_

Jack struggled to believe that last part and his face scrunched up. “Are you trying to persuade me to go back to them? Trying to justify how they reacted and treated me for mistakes, you are telling me, they have already made themselves?” He asked accusingly, his voice raising a little but he stopped when he saw that it seemed to make Sandy grimace. All he did in answer was shake his head at first, his eyes closed once again and another shiver running over his form before he could offer up more.

“ _No. It remains to be your **choice** , Jack. I cannot decide for you, nor would I ever think that I had any right to. I cannot speak for the actions of the others, it is their responsibility to explain their reactions and reasons.”_ Dulled golden eyes looked up to him again, but there was no smile as he continued, “ _You have to decide for yourself which side you think is right, which it is that you feel most comfortable working for and only you will know that.”_ Jack could do nothing but stare at him while he thought about what he was saying, which Sandy took as permission to continue. _“What I do know is, you have always been a free spirit, Jack, rules have never applied to you and you were good at what you did. The number of children you brought happiness to is countless, the games you would play, the joy you would inspire are what I would consider your bragging rights, your achievements.”_ That gave Jack some pause, he was worried about Pitch and the Nightmare Men he had gathered, that he was not fully aware of his true plans, however, his old methods of fun brought him no believers, no one had even seen him in centuries of joy, only in fear had he earned that right. Sandy wasn’t done yet though, “ _No one, not Pitch, Manny, North, Tooth, Bunny nor even I have any right to ask you to change who you are. You should always be true to yourself, regardless of what your friends want you to be. However, I am not sure how much longer neutrality will be an option for you.”_ Jack saw Sandy’s eyes roll over him sadly, wondering what he might have known or been aware of. _“Just know, that whatever side you do chose, you will not be alone.”_

He still had a choice? Was his loyalty not so dependent on believers that he would blindly follow Pitch’s orders without question? Did he really feel comfortable with what had happened and what he was being asked to do? He remembered the fear that he had killed the father of the young girl in that storm, he remembered his own fear at the nightmare men, that Pitch had locked him in a cage and sent him terrible nightmares just for _looking_ doubtful. But the guardians had cast him out, thrown him aside because he had made an apparently common mistake, parted with hurtful words that still pained him. Jack’s eyes were stinging again, he was sure he had done more crying over the past few weeks than he had in all his life. He wiped away at his face with his sleeve, unsure if he had ever actually cried properly in a dream before. “You’re telling me that I can’t be neutral, but you were always on neither side, always forming the mini barrier between me and the others.”

Sandy’s expression softened and he even chuckled silently, his face half hidden in his elbows as he curled tighter in on himself, shaking his head softly. “ _If you truly believe that I am in any way neutral in the grander scheme, you have not been paying much attention at all. I took an oath, centuries ago, to protect the Children of Earth and I will defend them, against anything and **anyone** by any means necessary. I **chose** my side so very long ago and through it, I have only become stronger, achieved my own dreams.”_ He looked around them, Jack doing the same and seeing a shadow growing around them, as if the pair of them were in a bubble of what remained of the grassy park. Jack looked back to him and raised his own eyebrow as an attempt at a tease, the look felt unnatural, he hadn’t done it in so long that it struggled to hold as the guardian looked back to him. “ _Sometimes you have to fall to see what it is that is truly most important to you.”_ Sandy smiled a mischievous grin before adding, “ _I should know, I have done it before.”_

Jack laughed as Sandy chuckled silently again, though he wasn’t sure what it was he was referring to, learning that he had a verbal mischief about him shouldn’t have come as so much of a surprise, but the fact that he looked so exhausted and even _weak_ but was still inspired to try and joke just touched Jack in a way he had not been expecting and the crack in his usually brooding look was hard to tame again as that smile remained on his face. This was nice. It had felt like so long since something felt pleasant. “It’s good to see you Sandy.” The guardian just smiled in response, then glanced around into the darkness around them.

“ _Likewise, and we will undoubtedly meet again.”_ He promised but Jack knew he meant either as companion or challenger and he gave a little nod, part of him just glad that Sandy was alive at all, even if it did seem to only be in dreams and in the deepest of nightmares. It was just a moment or two later before Sandy faded into the shadows himself.

Jack felt his body stir and wake, his eyes opened and he was face to face with a nightmare again, her ears pricked and nose twitching softly. Jack studied her for a moment between sleepy blinks, perhaps this _was_ a unique nightmare, he had seen ears prick and heard soft rumbles before but he was never sure if it was the same horse. Sleepy hands found a way to prop himself up and hesitantly he put his hand to the flat of her head and rubbed across it softly, smiling a little at the rush of sand between his fingers, the faintest of frost patterns trying to form on her face almost like a blaze. Then he saw it, the smallest _hair_ of dreamand gold just under her forelock. This nightmare held the last of the Sandman and that was how he was able to speak with him in his own dreams. He wanted to make her distinct, wanted some way to identify her in case he ever needed to find Sandy for himself, but as the frost patterns formed, as ever, they faded within minutes as the mare enjoyed her fuss. He supposed that was for the better.

Jack felt the tightness at the corners of his eyes and gently pulled at the sleep that had gathered there, plucking it free and looking to it as if it might confirm his suspicions. The mare looked on too and Jack felt Sandy’s gaze on him in those glowing eyes. He had promised to bring any dreamsand he found to Pitch after all. Jack’s eyes flicked to the mare and he considered himself, dreamsand was apparently something that could help stop he and Pitch eventually, combining it with something else would make what sounded to him like a weapon. Perhaps it would be best to have a fail safe, should he become so consumed with his hunt for believers that he was blinded to the devastation he was causing, someone, somewhere should have a means to stop him. It was foolish to have a weakness within his grasp, to be able to destroy it or hide it so that he might be unstoppable. He bit his lip, he didn’t want to be unstoppable though, it was not his ambition to be all powerful, his ambition was to simply be believed in, to be seen.

With plenty of uncertainty, Jack offered out the dreamsand grains to the nightmare and after a moment, she seemed to have managed to pick them up and they were lost in the sea of black sand that made her form. He let out a breath he was not aware he had even been holding in and let his gaze drop to the floor as the nightmare shifted and flew under the door and out of sight. Jack had not needed that reminder, he did not want that offer of a choice he would have rather known he had sealed his fate and would forever be paired with Pitch. Cold hands rubbed over his eyes, the heel of his palm rubbing harder against them as he tried to brush away his uncertainty. Eventually, he pushed himself from his bed, collected his staff and walked from his room, ready for another night of work.


End file.
